What is IPM (Integrated Pest Management)?

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Bulk Natural Foods

A Natural Food Coop in Middle Tennessee

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We do offer certified organic foods whenever we can, but sometimes it's
impossible for us to find a large enough quantity of organics to meet the
needs of the many families we serve. So for some of the products we
offer, we've settled on what we feel is good middle ground: Integrated
Pest Management.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a method of reducing pests, and
the diseases they cause, using a combination of common-sense
techniques. When the amount of pests in an orchard is reduced naturally,
there is less need to apply pesticides. And even when the natural
methods fail to some degree, IPM growers are careful to limit their
spraying to areas that really need the pesticides, rather than spraying the
whole orchard. 

Here are some of the techniques used in an IPM system:

Scouting & written record keeping is the foundation of a good IPM
program. Growers regularly inspect their crops for signs of harmful insects, disease and weeds. Records that note which pests were sighted and how they were dealt with help the grower make future decisions to prevent damage to his crops.

Planting pest and disease resistant varieties in the orchard helps to minimize the need to control pests.

Mechanical control such as trapping insects or weeding: Through careful timing and monitoring of                                                                                           temperatures, many harmful insects are eliminated by the use of visual traps,                                                                       sticky traps, and pheromone traps. (Pheromone traps emit attractive odors to                                                                     lure male insects. Neat idea, huh?)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Mating Disruption is a strategy that uses synthetic pheromones to confuse                                                                        male insects and limit their ability to find females for mating.

                                                                  Targeted spraying is spot treating a problem area of the orchard rather than                                                                     spraying all the trees, and it’s only done as a last resort, after natural means                                                                         have failed. Even though IPM orchards use chemical sprays, they are careful to use “gentle sprays,” pesticides that conserve natural enemies of pests and pose the least amount of risk to the farmer and the environment.

Other common-sense practices include cleaning up dead trees, pruning, weeding, mowing and mulching. Shucks! If I could just manage to do *these* things in my own garden...!

Basically, IPM uses a lot of prevention and only a little bit of cure. No, it’s not organic, but it’s a lot better than carelessly spraying on schedule. We think buying from IPM growers makes a lot of sense. Even though it’s a step away from being organic, IPM prices make this natural produce available to many more people at a fraction of the price of organic fruit.

What do you think?
 

A sticky apple-shaped trap in the orchard.
A pheromone trap among the apples.
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